Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to identity theft solutions and, more particularly, to secure storage of personal information to avoid identity theft.
Background of the Related Art
In today's world, most people have numerous account numbers, credit card numbers, Personal Identification Numbers (PIN), and passwords, which are often difficult to remember and keep track of, but are frequently needed to gain access to personal accounts. For example, an individual may have several bank accounts, e.g, a checking account, a savings account, and a certificate of deposit (CD) account; several student accounts; a frequent flyers account; several insurance accounts; etc., each of which has an account number associated with it. Further, each account may also be associated with a user ID and a password for online access. Relying solely on memory to remember all this information may be impractical. Further, storage of such information in an insecure manner may subject the information to loss or theft, which could potentially lead to identity theft. Thus, a safe and secure storage mechanism that allows the user instant access to such information is highly desirable.
In addition, instant access to important personal documents such as legal documents (e.g., deeds, will, power of attorney, etc.) and financial documents (e.g., bank statements, W-2 form, etc.) is also often desirable. Storage of such documents in a database accessible through the web is possible. However, once again, if these documents or the information they contain fall into the wrong hands, such documents can be used for identity theft. Accordingly, what is needed is a mechanism for storage and delivery of important personal information and data that allows instant access to the information and data without compromising the security of the information and data.